Fort Hood soldiers train underground for battlefield medical emergencies
Soldiers train to deal with high combat casualties
The U.S. military is learning from mistakes made in other conflicts. At an underground training center in Ft. Hood, the Army’s 1st Medical Brigade mimics a large number of combat casualties.
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FORT HOOD, Texas – This week, the 1st Medical Brigade, III Armored Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, held a training exercise called “Operation Silver Lightning.”
The exercise, according to the 1st Medical Brigade, “is designed to simulate the challenges of providing advanced medical care in a large-scale contested combat environment.”
Between March 23 and April 1, the 1st Medical Brigade employed the tactical arm of the Army Health System. Combat medics, optometrists, medics, veterinarians and other medical personnel simulated a mass casualty event under combat conditions in the underground tunnels of the Fort Hood base.
This week, Fox News took a close look at how this training exercise was implemented.
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Soldiers train with wounded or cast members during a training exercise at Fort Hood. (Fox News)
“So medics have realized that it is no longer possible to set up a multi-tent field hospital occupying four or five acres, up to 15 acres, and providing world-class care, above ground,” said Col. Kamil Sztalkoper, director of public affairs for III Armored Corps.
Sztalkoper said this change is due in part to the drone warfare seen in the Ukraine war.
300 soldiers treat and work on injured fake soldiers for a training exercise. (Fox News)
“We have to disperse, number one. And then hiding in plain sight, is number two. So dispersal is using several different types of locations. Hiding in plain sight could be in a building, a warehouse or here. Using one of our unique training facilities that were designed in the 1940s. Used in the 1950s to house nuclear and atomic weapons,” Sztalkoper told Fox News.
The tunnels have since been decommissioned and cleared for use as a training center – in this case, an underground field hospital. Sztalkoper said the several kilometers of tunnels are used as a “triage emergency room, operating room, veterinarian, optometry.” [and] clinics,” allowing troops to avoid what he describes as the growing drone threat seen in Ukraine.
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During the exercise, around 300 soldiers and actors portraying injured soldiers participated in various evacuation and medical drills, with the soldiers transporting the injured from a helicopter to a military medical vehicle and then into the tunnels.
Combat medics are then trained to treat injured soldiers or actors. Each of the wounded imitated the pain and symptoms of an injury that might occur on the battlefield.
The soldiers, as actors, imitate the pain and hurt caused by battlefield injuries. (Fox News)
“Really, the dilemma for them is how they manage all of this with what they have,” said Col. Brad Franklin, 1st Medical Brigade deputy commander.
Franklin, who is also a chief nursing officer, said he has encountered similar challenges in real-world operations.
“Knowing that you don’t have enough staff, you don’t have enough surgeons, you don’t have enough nurses, you don’t have enough doctors and there are more patients than you can handle,” Franklin said. “So that requires them to do triage, reverse triage and take care of these victims.”
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In addition to treating soldiers, K-9s and their handlers also train in this exercise. Further down a dark tunnel, veterinarians work on a simulated injured K-9, while the handler is treated for simulated injuries across the room.
Lt. Col. Cynthia Fallness, commander of the 43rd Medical Detachment providing veterinary services support, said the personnel providing this training are doctoral-level veterinarians.
“In this case, it’s a traumatic fracture, a compound fracture of the hind limb. And the dog also has a chest injury and is also having trouble breathing because of a traumatic injury to the mouth,” Fallness said.
“So these are our diesel dogs,” she said of the fake K-9 on the operating table.
Soldiers train for all aspects of a mass casualty in combat, such as casualty evacuation. (Fox News)
Among the dozens of trained combat medics, one doctor says his role in the military is more than just a job.
“My grandfather actually served in World War II as a combat medic,” William Rothwell, a combat medic with the 1st Medical Brigade, told Fox News. “He went to Normandy, I believe, after the push on Omaha Beach.”
Rothwell, a Boston native, never met his grandfather, but heard stories from his father.
“It was how brutal it was, how hard it was. Medicine at the time wasn’t as good. So handling the patients was somewhat traumatic.”
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During this training, Rothwell gains that real-world medical combat experience before ever setting foot on a battlefield.
“The stories about how much he cared and was willing to go, you know, the mile and more to make sure he could bring his brothers home…really touched me,” Rothwell said. “So that’s kind of how I feel about this situation.”
